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Columbus killers will have to be executed, die in prison or freed before the public can examine
police case files underlying their arrests and convictions.

A change in the Columbus Division of Police's interpretation of Ohio's public-records laws has
led to a decision to not release any police investigatory documents while murderers remain in
prison.

Previously, investigators, journalists and relatives of both victims and convicts were permitted
- after the killer had exhausted appeals - to obtain case records and search for clues to confirm
guilt or question convictions.

Public-records requests in murder cases have been used to uncover evidence and statements
withheld from defense attorneys and build cases demonstrating wrongful convictions.

But the new policy forecloses the public's ability to examine the cases built by police to send
murderers to Death Row or lock them up for life without parole. In most cases, decades would have
to pass before records could be obtained.

"I think this is an outrageous and extreme interpretation of the law. It seems to serve no
purpose other than to hide police or prosecutorial misconduct," said Columbus lawyer Fred Gittes,
who has gone to court on many public-records cases.

Jeff Furbee, the legal adviser to Columbus police, said the change is not intended as a
"cover-up," but rather to "close the back door for someone to get records to which they are not
entitled."

Criminal defendants are not allowed to use public-records requests to obtain documents in their
cases. Their attorneys must obtain records from police and prosecutors through the discovery
process supervised by judges.

There are worries that friends and relatives of convicted murderers are obtaining police case
records and then forwarding them to the killers and their attorneys, who are "blindsiding
prosecutors" with records they were not entitled to obtain at trial, Furbee said.

"There are procedures for post-conviction relief. No one is trying to withhold these records to
keep innocent people in jail," he said. "I admit it sounds harsh ... but a look at the case law
shows it seems to be the appropriate response."

A state appeals court in Cleveland ruled in 2000 that police investigatory records cannot be
released as public records while prisoners still might file habeas-corpus actions alleging wrongful
conviction. Such appeals can be filed at any time and generally do not come until other appeals are
exhausted.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he did not request a change in the records policy
but recently notified the city attorney's office that he felt records in a gang-related murder case
had been improperly released. The release of the records led to death threats against a witness, he
said.

"This is a serious setback for anyone trying to investigate possible wrongful convictions. In my
own experience, public-records requests have turned up substantial exculpatory evidence and
statements never disclosed to defense lawyers," Yant said.

Gittes and Yant said Columbus' insistence that no police records will be released while
murderers are in prison is a more-restrictive policy than those used by the vast majority of Ohio
police agencies. Gittes fears other departments soon might follow Columbus' lead.

"How does that help anybody? This is supposed to be a free, open society. If criminal
proceedings, particularly misconduct by police or prosecutors, can be hidden, then the commitment
to justice is going to be lost," Gittes said.